Atrophy
by DramaGeek12
Summary: What would you do if you were running out of time? Jack has know he was going to die since he was 10 years old. His body is slowly failing him. Now he has to decide how he wants to spend his final moments.
1. Her Eyes

_His breath hitched, the metal sliding into his vein for what seemed the trillianth time that day. His crystal eyes welded shut, his teeth mashed together to try to silence the cries. He was in pain. So much pain. And no one seemed to know what to do about it. The metal broke through his slowly forming muscles, puncturing a hole in the soft tissue that enagle his bisep to flex. He cringed and cried out. He was surely going to die if they kept hurting him like this. Then just like it was never there, the evil sharp point pulled out of his skin, leaving a throbbing sensation._

_He'd had another blood test. The 6th that day._

_The 10 year old cried out for his mother. He wanted to go home. He would much rather have suffered the sever headaches, the nearly unbarable chest pains, the purple bruises that covered his stomach. He just wanted the evil doctor to stop shoving needles through his skin. His mother's soothing words were lost in his torment. His mind a blur. Only picturing a life without this pain. He tried to pull himself together. Boys don't cry. They never cried. He'd never seen his father cry even when the cancer came and he knew he would die. His mother cried enough for him though at Terri, the man that looked just like his son's funeral mere months ago. This was all to surreal to actually be happening. But there he was, laying in the white bed, blinding hospital lights burning his cyan orbs that were red and puffy from all the tears, tubes running from machines to his body. He now knew what his father felt like. Trapped. He wanted out of this hell._

_The doctor came in and the small boy cringed away from the balding man like he was a murderer that would surely end his life. In essance he was. "Hello Jack." he used his soothing voice on the young boy. Jack just stared unblinkingly at the man. This evil man. "Well I think we're all done for the day. We will call sometime next week with the test results." He gave Jack a warm smile that looked like it stretched the old man's face too far._

_"Yes, please let us know." Jacks' mother Lucille told the doctor before ushering her only child out of the examinating room. He looked up at his only parents the woman that was usually so strong had tears in her eyes as she gazed at her world. Her son. "Lets go home Jack." She guided the distraught young boy to the black Acura stationed in the hospital's parking lot._

_"Mommy?" He asked, still a high pitch to Jack's voice since puberty hadn't hit yet._

_She looked over at her dear son and tried to smile. "Yes hunni?" she asked in a motherly tone._

_"Do you think I'll die like daddy?" he asked, a seriousness taking over the tiny face, his usually bright eyes dull._

_"No." she said, her voice determined. "You're going to live a long healthy life, marry a beautiful girl, and have many kids. You will live well into your 100s" she promised her baby boy._

But she was wrong. Oh, so wrong. Jack was never going to live to be 100. Hell, he'd be happy if he made it to his next birthday which was 2 months away; October 18. They'd gotten the news from the doctor the next day. He was issued back into the hospital for further testing, more devil needles punctured his smooth skin. After weeks of testing they'd figured out what was wrong with him. The doctor said he had a very rare condition one that only .2% of the country's population had it. It was Body Atrophy. This meant that his body was slowly coming apart. His systems were tearing down, failing minutely.

Jack Reece was going to die. He was going to die young.

__________________________________________________

The pounding of the water that fell from the dark and dreary sky seemed to match his mood. He sat there in his black Acura A6 and stared out the window of his car. He was parked outside of East High. His high school. The one that he never thought he'd live to attend. Now a senior at the school, it was a second home. But today his body ached. He didn't want to go in and sit through long tedious classes while staring at the clock. He didn't want to go to bball practice today because his bicep was aching from the 5 needles shoved into his arm last night when he was admitted into the hospital again from collapsing in the kitchen last night. He hadn't slept. The tired teen ran a rough hand through his dark locks before yanking the car door open. Today was not a good day to mess with Jack Reece.

Clad in dark jeans that hung on his small hips and allowed the tips of his boxers to show and a blue t-shirt with multiple colored squares on the front covered in a black hoodie he ran in his new black and white checkered Vans through the downpour to get to the safe haven of the dry school. He sloshed through many puddles on his way to the big brick building and kept his eyes down. His warm, strong hand shot out to catch the door that his best friend just walked through. His breath evened out after the mad dash as he entered the bright hallway.

Students gathered at different lockers talking to their close friends. He passed down the hall silently as eyes fell on him. He knew he looked bad...but to the female population he looked like a god. His tanned skin radiated and his black hoodie only aplified the blue irises that were trained on the ground. He didn't want to interact today. All he wanted was to go home and just curl up in bed. The normally cheery captain of the basketball team just wanted to get out.

"Heya Captain!" a booming voice rang out as Jack reached his locker and started spinning the knob easily. His mind clouded with the thoughts of when he first learned of his disease were knocked out of his head as his best friend Mark came into view. His best friend since preschool with his brown bush for hair had a warm smile plastered along his face. He had no idea of the internal struggles of Jack.

It's not that Jack didn't trust him with the truth, he just didn't want anyone to find out and worry. He wanted to live life to the fullest and not have people holding him back. "Hey Mark!" He put on a false grin and waved.

"So. How are you today?" He asked his best friend out of curiosity. They'd been on the phone last night right before the incident in the kitchen and Jack had said he wasn't feeling well before hanging up.

In pain. "Great. I feel better." That was a mild lie. He still hurt, his muscles ached. But the peircing pain in his lungs had died. The doctor had told him that the reason the pain was there was because a small bit of the outter lung on the right side had died off. This had sent his mother into hysterics. Him...it scared him to death but he didn't let his mother see that.

You see, Jack had a moto. It was to live every day to the fullest, have no regrets, and to do everything he could to enjoy the time he had. Sure he didn't want to die but he'd accepted it, Had to accept it from age 10. He wasn't afraid to leave this Earth. He knew that he would go to Heaven and be with his father. Other than his mother and his best friend he wouldn't really be sad about leaving. And they would get over it.

"That's good." His friend said, his smile stretching further. His beady black eyes darted down the hall and his whole face lit up. It seemed like Mark's whole body shook in his burnt orange shirt and light wash jeans. "Hey! Look. It's a new girl." Mark was a really friendly guy and it looked like he wanted to befriend the new girl.

Jack turned his head to the side to see the brunette walking through the doors. His slowly decicating heart pounding.

_________________________________________

Isabella Ann. She dispised her name with a burning passion.

Isabella. Such an inocent name for a perfect girl. Then her parents had to add the Ann along with it. No, she couldn't just go by Isabella, since that was torture enough but when adressing her one always had to include the Ann part too. That was insane and she wanted to change her name when she got the money. You see Isabella wasn't the normal sweet little girl her mother Inez thought she was. Sure she put on the innocent princess facade when her mother was around. She'd wear pink, which she hated almost as much as her name, and heels. Her hair would be curled and her make-up would be light and delicate. She'd use manners and always be polite.

But Bella, the demon child could only take so much before her real self shined through. Bella wore combat boots, tight skirts that showed off her exotic curves. Her long midnight hair was straitned. She'd aply thick eyeliner and eyeshadow. Her cherry pink lipgloss would change to tahitian pink. Her usually body fitting t-shirts had rock bands or sayings as in "What if the Hockey Pockey really was what it's all about." She wasn't emo or goth. She was just a hard core tomboy at heart. She enjoyed sitting and watching basketball, getting wasted at parties, lighting up with friends. The only thing she hadn't done was crack or weed. Those were forbidden, even to her. She knew her limits.

She had a sad life really. Every man that entered her life left. Her father was shot down at a bank robbery when she was 13 and she often had nightmares of waking up to her mother's sobs as she dropped the phone when she heard the news. Midnight. October 20. It was rounding 5 years now. She'd allowed one boy in her life to take her heart completely away from her only to find that the scumbag was cheating on her with her willing ex-best friend. Her mom was always gone, trying to make more of a name for themselves in teh elegant society. They were rich and unhappy people. Isabella had everything that life had to offer but she never felt content with her hated life.

She also didn't like that her mom had made her move from LA to Albequerque, New Mexico either.

All this ran through the petite Latina's mind as she unbuckled the seatbelt to her new silver Mustang. She hated being labled as a rich girl by the kind of car she drove. She looked out the widow and saw a couple guys drooling off of the custom paint job and just the overall car. Isabella's temper was running high. She was already late for her first day at East High and she was pissed about leaving her school where she actually got along with people. She ripped off her frilly pink top tha and slithered out of her matching long pink skirt. She readjust her make up in the mirror, adding much more than she had before and readjusting her form-fitting black t-shirt. It was plain today and went well with her light skinny jeans. She wore silver ballett flats to finish off the loock. She tossed her cascading curls that she didn't have time to straighten over her shoulder and jumped out the car.

She entered the noisy hallway. A couple guy's shot to her and she watched their eyes hungrily shoot down her frame and wink at her. She just rolled her eyes in disgust. She was not interested in horney guys. She was waiting for the one that would love her for her and not just becuase they thought she would be good in bed. She certainly wasn't going to fall for anyone. Ever. She was an independent woman.

Her eyes scanned the hallway and she saw some dirty looks from girls. She just let it roll off her back. She really didn't care what people thought of her. She perfered to be alone. She didn't need them. Her eyes kept scanning the crowds, student's glancing at the new girl that just walked in. Her eyes stopped as they locked on the electric blue that was peircing into her chocolate brown eyes.

____________________________________

Jack finally allowed himself to breath. His heart returned to a pretty normal pace. He didn't need his body feeling like this. He felt like his lungs were still striving for air. His body was hot and cold at the same time. His heart beat hard against his chest. His eyes turned to tunnel vision. He could only see the petite young woman that just stepped through the doors. Her hair fell loosly around her shoulders, her shirt clung to her body and showed off her curves. Her face was emotionless though. No fear of a first day, no annoyance that guys left and right were probably staring at her, there was nothing in her visage to show what she was feeling.

"Dude?" Mark started waving a hand infront of his best friend's face. "You in there?" He chucled mildly at his friend's distraction.

Jack shook his head to bring him out of his daze. "Oh, yeah." he mumbled, flushing a light pink because he was staring at the new girl. Jack looked up again to see that she was nearing them. She glanced down at the paper in her hands then to her left. She stopped momentarily then kept walking.

Mark had a sing-song ring to his voice. "Jacky's got a crush!!" he said a little too loud for Jack's liking.

"No I don't." He snapped. No. He'd never do that to a girl. He didn't mind girls admiring from a far but he would never put a girl's heart in danger since he never really knew if he would wake up the next morning or not. He wasn't that kind of person.

"Yes you do. Dude, you can't stop staring." he hissed quitely because the girl was walking past them.

"No." He said again. He could smell her perfume. It had an edge to it. A sweet floral smell mixed with something else. He tried to recall where he'd last smelled the aroma before. Then his eyes bluged.

Cigarette smoke.

"Hey." Mark jumped to where the new girl was walking, making her jump a little. Finally, a reaction to everything.

"Um...Hi?" She furrowed her brow a moment then her face became impassive.

"What's your name?" Mark asked, his bright smile litting up his face as it did earlier. He was naturally a go-getter kind of guy and loved meeting new people...Jack on the other hand...not so much.

She stayed silent and studied the chocolate skinned boy infront of her with his poofy hair and his small beady eyes. Her eyes dropped to his feet once before moving to his face again. "What's it to you?" Her pleasant and surprised tone gone. Raw attitude laced her voice now.

Mark was taken aback as Jack silently watched while leaning against his locker. "I was just trying to be nice..." he mumbled and looked for Jack to help.

Jack took a deep breath, wondering if his voice would come out while he stared at her. "Mark we're going to be late." He glanced at the clock knowing full well they weren't even close to being late. "We should go. Um...bye whoever you are." As he adressed her for the first time her eyes shot to his. A force he couldn't imagine pulled at his heart pulling him closer to her. But he restrained and yanked Mark by the arm.

"Ok. Fine." He huffed while being dragged. When they were out of earshot he turned to his friend. "Didn't you want to know your future lover's name?" he raised an eyebrow.

Jack rolled his eyes and kept walking. "No."

He didn't want to know her name because then he'd want to know more about her. He couldn't become attached to anyone else. He didn't want to hurt anyone else when he left. He didn't want a reason to want to stay.

Too bad the reason to stay on Earth was staring at him with a curious look in her mocha eyes before she turned to continue to her locker.


	2. Beat of My Heart

**Hey guys! I hope you like this story. I know it's still kind of new and the first chapter was kind of boring. This one compares the two lives of our future lovers. I hope you enjoy it.**

**The story is about to get a lot more deep and more difficult to read...not in the words but in the topic. This story is about Jack and his illness and him dying. Don't say I didn't warn you.**

_

* * *

Bam! A crashing sound awoke the 10 year old from his sleep. He had slowly faded into unconsciousness listening to his mother pacing in the living room as she waited for the phone call. The phone call that would tell her if her son was destined to die. Jack sat up in his bed and groggily felt around for the lamp beside his bed. Once turning his light on he glanced at the clock. 11:00. So he'd only been out for about an hour. He lifts his heavy legs from his comfy mattress and placed his feet onto the soft carpet in his room. He couldn't help but wiggle his small toes in the threads that his feet rested on. He yawned as he stood up and threw on a black shirt so he was dressed in a shirt and boxers._

_His hand froze on the doorknob. He had a sinking feeling inside of him. He all of a sudden didn't want to know what the crash was. He didn't want to know. It seemed as if he already knew what he'd see when he opened the heavy wooden door that his father had taken off it's hinges when he was smaller because he had slammed it and locked it shut after Jack had screamed at his father. He pushed all thoughts of his dad away from him as he focused on making his hand turn the knob. He knew what he'd see. He knew what he was going to hear._

_He knew he was dying._

_He walked out of the room slowly feeling along the wall for the hallway was very dark. He slowly flipped the light switch after fumbling for a couple seconds to get his shaking fingers around the white switch. Suddenly the tan painted walls lined in a floral border were illuminated as the crystal blue orbs winced at the sudden light. His numb legs carried the small body through the hallway and down the stairs. He could hear sobs coming from the kitchen, sobs from his mother. This made his heart ache for her._

_"Mom?" His small voice barely carried through the dimly lit room. He looked around for the source of light and spotted the stove light on._

_Her head shot up and she quickly reached up to dry her tears. She didn't want to be weak in front of her son. She thought he'd never seen her cry. She hadn't seen him watching at the hospital when her husband had passed away. "Oh, Jack." Her voice was pained and her eyes held his with a determination he'd never seen before. "What are you doing up?"_

_"I heard a crashing noise." He admitted as his numb body fell limply into a chair. He couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from his mother's. Her eyes puffy and rimmed with tears._

_"Oh." She said and glanced down to the tile floor. As he followed her gaze he saw the kitchen phone. She must have dropped it after the call. The call that would change everything._

_His breathing hitched as it sunk in to the tiny boy sitting with his feet dangling from the chair that this was real. "The doctor called...didn't he?" He was amazed at how his voice stayed even although inside he was having a full scaled panic attack._

_"Yes." She whispered as if the word was killing her. "Yes he did." She swallowed and looked away from her son finding the table easier to look at. "He told me you were very sick."_

_Jack's eyes filled with tears. No. That didn't mean he'd parish. That just meant he was sick. "So when can I get medicine?" His voice broke at the end of the question._

_Her mother's eyes moved to his slowly and she reached out to grab his normally fiery hand which had turned to ice. "There is no medicine." She had said that to him when he asked what medicine would make his father better._

_"So I'm going to die just like Daddy." He stated. Fact. Not a question. His mother didn't say anything._

* * *

_**"**_Mom! I'm home" The deep voice boomed through the house. The teen slung his bag off his shoulder and to the ground. He didn't feel like doing homework right now. He trudged into the kitchen and opened the fridge, pulling out an apple and taking a bite. "Mom?!" He shouted again. No answer. Huh, she must have a late shift at the bank tonight.

The basketball captain made his way up to his room and changed into red basketball shorts and a white t-shirt. He opened the medicine cabinet and stared at the bottles upon bottles of pills. Each one was supposed to keep his body functioning. Each one was a life supporter. He pulled one out and popped a pill into his hand. It was white and oval shaped with a chalky exterior. It was supposed to keep his airways clear. He swallowed it and pulled out another bottle. This was extra calcium for his bones that his slowly disintegrating muscles were attached to. He swallowed that one. Another kept his heart in check. One reduced acid in his stomach. One got rid of headaches. One helped with back ache. He put drops into his eyes to help them stay in good condition so he could see as clearly as possible for as long as he could. Then he took his last pill to help his muscles develop and stay strong. Yep. This was his life. 2 times a day. Once in the morning and once when he got home.

After he took his daily pills he walked downstairs and grabbed the milk out of the fridge. He took off the top and held the opening of the jug to his lips. He took 2 gulps and placed it back into the tiny refrigerator as he wiped off his milk mustache. He then grabbed the scarlet and black ball sitting on the table and headed to his court in the backyard. He spent a majority of his time working out. He wanted to stay in shape and help his body stay healthy as much as he could.

"And he goes in for the shot..." He whispers to himself as he jumps into the air for a 3 pointer and watches as the ball swishes in easily. "And it's good!! All net ladies and gentlemen!!" He pretended to yell and beat his chest with his fists as he spun around in a slow circle. He then pumped a fist in the air. This made him laugh out loud at his insane way of entertaining himself. Yes, he talked to imaginary audiences. Jack would've preferred to have someone else there cheering for him but he worked with what he had.

He played for another hour, testing his skills to make sure he'd be good for the game the next day. It was the first one of the season and he was pumped. His once dull 10 year old eyes now sparkled like blue diamonds. His mother nor late father had his eyes. Their eyes were of a deeper blue and never could compare to the bright sparkle their son had. You could always tell what mood the 17 year old was in based on his eyes. When he was happy or excited they always dazzled like the stars above and were as blue as sky on a clear sunny day. When he was content or bored his eyes would simmer at a turquoise which they were now. When he was angry his eyes would darken to a midnight blue.

Right now the fairly content teen headed inside his 2 story white vynal home to start to cook dinner. It seemed like he was eating alone tonight after all. He didn't mind the silence. He enjoyed having time to himself. When he was home and his mother was around he could always see her worry lines. She would constantly ask questions about how he was feeling and if there was any pain. If there was pain he'd lie. He didn't want his mother to be under more stress than she already was.

Jack loved his mother. She was the only woman in his life and the only one he wanted. She had an air about her that was confident and he admired everything she did. She was so strong for him. She never wanted him to see her cry. He did though. He sometimes would sit in his room late at night and listen to the sobs coming from her room next door. She cried for her husband to give her strength, she cried to God to help her through the day, but mostly, she cried because she wanted so desperately to save her ill son. A cry for help from anything that might help her son.

Jack knew his health was failing more than it had last year. He knew he wouldn't be around for a very long time. Did he tell his mother this? No. He just wanted to go on normally and live out life like any other high school student. He wanted to go to parties though he'd never let himself drink. He wanted to kiss a girl, though he was scared to let them become emotionally attached. He wanted to be able to tell anyone in Heaven, when they asked, that even though he died young he had a full life. If his mother knew how much pain he was in she would keep him locked up in a hospital.

The pain started suddenly in his left breast. A scream erupted from the depths of his chest and left his lips. He clutched his peck as if trying to grab the source of the hurt. His knees fell to the shiny white tile floor and his head bowed. His teeth were gritted as he grunted in pain. Jack, the stubbornest boy alive, would not let the blackness that was starting to come consume him. He needed to stay alert. He knew this pain well and he knew eventually it would stop. The fact of the matter is his heart was starting to fail just like everything else. His heart had momentarily skipped a few beats. A choking sensation engulfed the tortured male as he wheezed for the needed oxygen. His fist balled and he punched his chest with all his might. Like a fist releasing his throat he found that air came more naturally. The pain in his chest slowly subsided. It was over...for now.

Jack sat up with his back to the kitchen stove, his feet sprawled out on the tile floor, panting. Sweat dripped down his temple and he quickly wiped it away. His eyes slowly adjusted to the bright lights of the kitchen again. He then shut his, for a moment pale blue, orbs and focused on breathing and counting his pulse. He'd made it through another attack. He slowly pulled himself up, steadying himself on the counter and turned on the kitchen sink. He splashed cold water onto his face.

"You did it Jack." he whispered into the silence. "You can keep going." He shut his eyes again and took a deep breath of the beautiful oxygen.

* * *

The brunette walked into her small one story house and was immediately greeted by a small black dog. A real smile lit up her face as she reached down and picked up her small puppy. "Hey Shadow!!" she cooed to the black puff of fur. The dog's tail wagged and a small bark came from the curly hair. Isabella put her dog down while giggling and threw her keys on the table by the door.

She walked into the living room and flipped on the small TV stationed on a mahogany table. She plopped down on the worn down couch and sighed. Her eyes looked around the white walls with a few hanging pictures of her once happy self when she was 5 and her mother. No pictures hung of her father. It was like her mother had tried everything to keep his presence away from the broken family. Her mother, who was probably at a benefit function for small children of some type, was never around. It wasn't like her mother was a do-good-er either. She only went to these things to get higher in the social class and hoped her daughter married into a very wealthy family.

Isabella slowly got up from the couch and walked down a small hallway and to her room. Her room, decorated in purple walls and a small twin bed covered in a white quilt with pink and purple flowers sewn into the fabric, showed the side of her that pleased her mother. The girly, sensitive one. She went to her dresser and pulled out a photo of her father. Her father was holding up his small child he loved more than life itself and tossing her into the air. Isabella had rosy cheeks and her eyes were alight with happiness while knowing her father would be there to catch her when she started to fall back to earth. Oh how she loved her father. She loved him with every part of her. That night when he didn't return home from his errand to the bank she knew something was wrong. That day a peice of her was ripped from her body, never to return. Her mother never looked at her the same for Isabella was the spitting image of her father, William.

A tear fell slowly made a trail down her cheek as Isabella reached up to wipe it away. "Not tonight. Your not going to cry tonight." She murmured and put the picture back.

Her phone vibrated and she reached down to pull it out of her pocket. She had a new text. _Club O2 tonight. 10:00. See you there._

Isabella had made one friend today. Her name was Manni. She had long flowing blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. There was an air about her that scared off most people and that's exactly what Isabella had liked about her. Manni knew how to be a bitch and so did Isabella. She also knew how to party. When introducing herself she'd said that her name was Bella. She'd done this because she knew that to win over her new friend over she'd have to let her wild party side show.

Isabella texted back that she'd be there and pulled out clothes to try to find a perfect outfit. She needed to let loose. She'd moved here less than a week ago and hated it. She'd been stared at all day long since she was the 'new girl' and people did it openly, not caring if she caught them or not. It was insane. Also she couldn't get the picture of those piercing blue eyes out of her head. She needed a drink...bad. She rummaged through her closet a little more before finding the perfect outfit, finally settling on a tight white tube top that left a strip of her stomach to be seen since her dark tight-fit jeans didn't meet the white fabric. She decided to leave her hair down in long waves and let her long bangs fall in her eyes. She looked hot and she knew it.

Bella, the wild child, was coming out tonight and no one was going to stop her. She grabbed her phone from the counter and grabbed an apple from the fridge on her way out, taking a bite in the process. It only took about 20 minutes to get to the hottest club in town and Bella was itching to dance. She didn't care who she danced with or if she danced alone. She just needed to let off steam. She turned off her car and got out, feeling the crunch of rocks underneath her high black leather boots.

She could smell smoke as soon as she entered the club. Ah, the sweet smell of second-hand smoke. Breathing in deeply Bella let the sweet smell consume her. She could also smell alcohol on the breath of the people she passed by on her way to the bar. She sat down on a stool at the end of the crowded bar and flashed her fake ID. "I'd like a Bourbon n' Coke" she requested while giving the bartender a sweet smile and leaning over a little to show her cleavage.

"Coming right up." The man who had to be in his early 20s said and gave her the drink she desired.

She grabbed in and slowly took a nice big gulp. She felt her body warm as the alcohol entered her bloodstream. "Ahh." She shivered once then looked around the club. The base made the floor vibrate, the people dancing looked like a mosh pit of horny young adults, and they were all grinding. Her body ached for physical contact with someone. She wanted to let herself go.

Suddenly she felt a warm hand grab her forearm. She jumped and spun around quickly to see it was her new friend Manni who had on a lazy drunken smile. "Hey giiiirrrrlllll" she slurred while taking a sip from her martini.

"Hey." Bella tried to give a small smile. She wasn't really a people person.

The blonde grabbed her arm tighter and dragged her off the stool. "Lets go find some hot guys to dance with." She laughed at nothing as she pulled the brunette through the packed room.

Bella looked around at all the guys within view. Some were dancing with girls mashed up to their bodies, sweat trickling down their faces, moans leaving their mouths. Others were just dancing very uncoordinatedly by themselves. These guys made her laugh. She spotted a blond spikey haired boy with green eyes sort of just standing there. She started walking over to him and he smirked at her. His eyes moved up and down her body hungrily. He grabbed her and turned her quickly so her back was to him. They started to grind each other to the beat of the fast paced music. He dropped low allowing her to rub against him and she could feel his body tighten. She took another sip of her drink that was nearing empty. She then felt something wet on her neck as she felt his lips place a sloppy drunk kiss there. She pushed harder into his groin and followed the beat coursing through her body.

The song ended and she walked away from the now hard man without looking back. She went to the bar and slammed her glass down. "Vodka." she ordered and was given what she wanted. "Thanks." She hadn't felt anything with that boy. He didn't turn her on, there were no sparks. She didn't really know what sparks felt like because she'd never felt them. Not even with Cameron, the guy she let have her heart and found cheating on her with her best friend. That had hurt. A lot. Her eyes misted over as she threw back the shot. "Another." She demanded. She threw it back as soon as it was in her hands. "Another one."

She kept this up to dull the pain. She just wanted to be loved. She just wanted a new life...or to end the one she had. Either way she wanted out. She felt the tears swimming in her eyes. Her father's death that she never really let go was always in the back of her mind. She hated her life. She threw back another and this time when she wanted more the bartender wasn't going to give in to the now drunk teen. Bella felt her eyes narrow on the stranger behind the bar and threw the shot glass at the man before storming out of the club.

"Want one?" Manni, who was standing there in her white mini-skirt and baby blue t-shirt, offered. Bella looked down at the white death stick. She immediately takes it from her new friend and Manni lights it up.

"Thanks." She took in a long deep puff of the toxic smoke.

"How long you been smoking?" Manni asked, her voice completely slurred. "I'm going on ..." she started counting on her fingers "Well I can't exactly remember." she started laughing an obnoxious, high pitched, drunken laugh.

Bella took another long puff and closed her eyes. "Since I was 10." She whispered. Since her father died.

"Wow." Manni exclaimed, her eyes glossed over.

"Yeah." her voice almost inaudible. "I know."

* * *

Lucille opened her son's bedroom door and just stared at her beautiful young man that fit in her arms so easily so long ago. She walked over to her world and just stared. She didn't know how much longer she'd be able to look at him, watch him sleep. It was close to 1:00 and he'd been out for 3 hours now. His face was completely smooth, no worry lines, no hint of pain in his now closed eyes. He looked just like a little baby, so innocent, so protected. It didn't look like he was dying. It didn't look like he had found out that the doctors didn't think he'd live more than a couple more years at the most.

Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at her son. Her life. She didn't know what she'd do without him. Her fingers traced his cheek softly and he sighed in his sleep. The tears escaped and she put her hands over her mouth to try to stifle the sobs. She had to be quite. She didn't want to wake her sleeping child.

Too late. Jack opened his eyes and rubbed them while yawning. He looked 3 again. "Mommy?" his groggy voice made him sound younger than he was. He looked up to see his mother with tears streaming down her face. "What's wrong?" Fear made his eyes go wide. Did the doctors call?

"Nothing. I was just watching you sleep" her voice shook as she quickly dried her tears.

"Don't cry Mom." he pulled her down to him and hugged her as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"I don't know what I'm going to do when you leave." She sobbed and held onto him like he was going to vanish in thin air.

He pulled back and stared at his mother. "I'm not going anywhere for a while." his voice forceful. He wasn't giving up.

She nodded and cupped his face with her hands."I love you, you know that?" she asked, her bottom lip quivering. Jack nodded. Then she asked her rutine question. "Have you had any major pain?" worry covered her visage.

He thought back to earlier in the kitchen. "No." he lied.

He wasn't going to hurt his mother that way. He wasn't going to tell her the agony he went through. His meds weren't making the pain go away anymore.

His end was coming quickly.

* * *

**Review please. I want to know what you think! Honest reviews. I want to know what I can change, what I need to work on, and what I did well on.**


	3. Superman

**I know I haven't posted anything in months. I've had so much going on at school. I'm in the drama program and it takes a lot of work to stay on top of my school work and to do everything needed to put on a show. Often I'm too tired to write. And truthfully I lost my inspiration to write this until about a week ago. **

**I have a friend that's going to through a lot of the same things as Jack is. And I was reminded about this story when we were talking the other day and I decided that I should take up writing this again. I started writing this chapter a while ago but never finished. I finally got my inspiration back. He's pushing me to do this story because he wants to read all about Jack and how he deals with life. Jack is not at all my friend. Sure, they both have a type of atrophy. My friend has muscular distrophy. Jack doesn't just have that. Jack is not him.**

**I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for not posting. I know I've probably lost my readers. But i feel that this story needs to be told. I'll try to keep up with this as much as possible.**

**And about my other story, Unrequited Love, I am deciding whether to finish that or not. Should I?**

**Here's the next chapter to Atrophy. Enjoy :)**

* * *

_The heavy eyes slid close once again and another yawn escaped the chapped lips of the 10 year old's mouth. A small delicate hand covered the open cave and a small gasp left her lips. Isabella forced her eyes to stay open. She snuggled deeper into the fuzzy blanket that covered her thin body clothed in a pink nightgown with white and blue poka-dots splattering the cotton material. She bit at her Tahitian pink colored fingernails as her coffee orbs stared at the TV screen. Her favorite show was on, __Smallville_._The young girl absolutely adored the idea of having a hero to come and save her. Plus, the actor, Tom Welles, was really cute. She loved the fact that he was living among the normal people and in love with a mortal._

_Another thing about Isabella, she was a sucker for a good love story._

_The small girl's eye lids shut on her again and she groaned in frustration as she tried to open them again. Her eyes slowly focused on the clock. 10:00. Her dad should have been home by now. He'd left at 9:00 to go the bank really quickly to get some money so he and is daughter could attend the fair the following day.. She'd begged all day to go tomorrow since her crush, Andrew, was going._

_Her ears perked and her heavy head turned toward the door as she heard a rapping sound on the front door. She heard her mother come down the hall and open the door. Isabella looked out of the icy window to see blue and red flashing lights outside. She sat up slowly and stood up on tired and wobbly legs. Walking to the door, a gasp left her mother's mouth and she saw glistening tears fall down her mother's cheeks. Isabella's pace quickened as she made it to her mother's side, clutching the fabric of her mother's silk robe._

"_What's wrong mother?" the trembling girl asked as her large brown eyes stare up into almost black ones._

"_Sweetie, go to your room please." Her mother's voice shook._

_Isabella didn't move. Her eyes slid to the person in the doorway. A police officer. What was he doing here? She peeked outside the door to see the police car with an ominous glow coming off the lights. The night suddenly got colder and the sound of the TV droned out in the distance. The previously star-filled night was now completely black, covered by clouds. Something was wrong._

_The police officer cleared his throat. "The criminal is behind bars I assure you."_

_Isabella watched, terrified as her mother shrieked into the darkness. "I don't care if he's behind bars! That doesn't matter! He's not coming home!!"_

_A sinking feeling fell over Isabella as she slowly put the pieces together._

"_Ma'am. Please try to remain calm. I'm sorry for your loss. We tried to save him." He put a comforting hand on her shoulder._

"_Get your hands off of me!" Isabella winced at the sound of her mother's hysterical voice. "You obviously didn't try hard enough." She suddenly seemed to remember her trembling daughter who now had tears running down her face. "Sweetie. Please go upstairs."_

"_Where is daddy?" Isabella's voice was small and weak._

"_Honey." The broken woman couldn't look at the child beside her anymore. "Go away. I'll talk to you later."_

"_No. Where is he? Where is daddy?"_

"_I said I'd talk to you later." Her mother's voice became hard. Tears still fell from her mother's dark eyes._

"_DADDY!!" The 10 year old screeched. "I want him. NOW!"_

"_NO." her mother yelled and grabbed the girl by the arm. "Don't you ever say that. Cuz he's never coming back!"_

"_Why not?" Isabella's voice broke and her eyes were turning red from the tears._

"_Because…"_

"_Because why?" She tried to keep her voice under control but her body vibrated as sobs left her chest. She wanted to scream, to break things, to run away._

"_Sweetie. I can't." the words coming out in a strangled whisper. Her mother turned back to the officer._

"_TELL ME!!" The small girl screamed. "What happened?"_

"_Thank you officer. You can go now." Isabella's mother shut the door on the man and put her back against the door, sliding down to the ground and collapsed in sobs._

"_Mom?" the small voice squeaked as a shaking hand reached out to touch the woman on the floor._

"_He's dead." Was all that left her lips._

_Isabella's world was totally turned upside down in that moment. Her small, jello legs carried her away from her mother on the ground, upstairs, and to her room. The white wooden door shut and the ten year old collapsed on the bed. Burrying her head into her pillows she curled up into a tight ball and cried…and cried…and cried. You see, Isabella was insanely close to her father. Her father was her hero. He was the man that made everything better, whether it was a small cut, a bad dream, or a bad grade. She screamed and grasped at her chest, trying to push her broke heart back together. She needed her dad. She loved her dad. He couldn't be gone._

_Isabella sat up in her bed and held her knees to her chest. She took a deep breath and finally heard the TV still on in the living room. Her superman was gone. She prayed to God that she'd find someone to make her feel safe again._

* * *

Isabella sat up quickly in her bed and grabbed at her chest. Tears slid down her cheeks and she chokes back sobs while gasping for breath. She hated having dreams of that night…the night that changed everything. Even if the dream did end before things got super bad. No. The dream was never allowed to keep going. Ever since that night everything had gone wrong and her life had fallen apart. There was no way she'd relive that pain.

Isabella got up, grabbed her clothes and walked into her bathroom. She turned on the hot water and took off her nightgown and stepped into the shower. Shivers ran down the Latina's back as the hot water hit her back. Her breaths were evening out again as she regained composure. The knots in her back slowly loosened and she ran her hand through her hair to loosen the tension in her head. Her hangover was evident but the pain from her memory hurt more, dulling the pain in her head. The hot water ran down the young woman's body as she tried to wash away the pain. She closed her eyes and dug her razor into her thigh, a whimper leaving her lips.

She'd thought about killing herself a few times. She'd never do that though. Life was short. And most of the time it meant nothing. She was constantly searching for a way out of the life that God had given her. Life was horrible.

That's why she turned into Bella. Bella wasn't afraid to find out what life had to offer. The only way to live was to drown your sorrows in alcohol it seemed. So that's what she did.

A sad little life.

It was time to face the world again though. Turning off the steaming hot water Isabella felt the ghost of warmth fall around her body as she stepped out from behind the shower curtain and wrapped a white towel around her torso tightly. Her thin fingers grasped at her black brush and yanked the stubborn knots out of her long locks, wincing in pain as the bush got stuck on a mass of tangled hair. After straightening her hair she grabbed her makeup and applied a couple coats of very black mascara and black eyeliner around her eye. She then dusted snow white eye shadow on her heavy lids and rosy lipstick smeared on her pale lips.

Isabella walked over to her closet and ran a delicate hand through the length of clothes hanging up on the rack. She grabbed a plain, black, form-fitting t-shirt and a white short sleeved jacket to match along with a pair of gray skinny jeans. She could hear her mother calling her name mercilessly from the kitchen causing the Latina to roll her eyes and grab her spiked black heels as she ran down the stairs.

The petite Latina entered the kitchen slowly and was met by an even shorter woman with sharp Latino features with short hair resting at the top of her shoulder in tight little natural ringlets. The person in front of Isabella seemed foreign from the way she looked when her daughter was 10.

"Morning sweetie." The lifeless voice spoke. There was no motherly affection at all in the way she presented herself of the way she spoke.

"Hey." The teen bit her lip and turned away from the woman and grabbed box of cereal from the cabinet.

"How are you this morning?" Isabella held back a sharp bark of laughter at the words.

The teen rolled her eyes and sighed before turning to the woman she at one point in time called her mother. Her mother? Gone. Gone the night her father didn't come home. Her mother loved her, her mother looked her in the eye when she talked to her. This person that possessed the body of the woman Isabella once loved was a stranger.

"What do you want?" Isabella asked curtly while pouring the milk in the bowl full of Captain Crunch.

"I'm trying to be concerned about you!" the woman tried to smile at the irritated girl but the smile was completely fake and the taller female saw right through it.

"You don't care. What do you want?" Isabella's eyes narrowed at her mother.

After a second of silence while both hard-headed females measured each other up, her mother broke the silence. "Look. There's a fundraiser tonight and I really need you there with me. There will be a lot of important people there and some kids your age," her mother stated while picking up her purse and rummaging through it.

"Kids? Really?" A reflexive eye roll and a snort leaving the fading red lips.

"Isabella Ann. I need you tonight. Be there. It's at 7." And with that the stranger walked out of the room and out the front door.

Isabella waited until the car engine revved and the sound disappeared into the distance. The irritated look dissolved and pain flashed over her face before she collected herself a split second later. With that Isabella took off the heels she had earlier put on and put on black combat boots, threw her hair up in a ponytail, grabbed her keys, and headed off to another day of purgatory, or as some call it, school.

* * *

Jack groaned as the annoying sound persisted in his ear. His large hand shot out from under the covers and slammed down onto the alarm to quite its persistent beeping. The male slowly turned over and rubbed his eyes. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust as he looked to his bedside table to see a picture of his dad. A small, sad smile painted his thin lips as he looked at the picture of the man while stretching, making his body longer than the bed he laid in.

He sat up slowly and got up on wobbly legs, walking slowly into the bathroom and brushing his sparkling white teeth. After spitting and rinsing he grabbed his jell from the counter and ran his fingers through his hair to make it spiky. He tried to get all the spikes perfect and after a few moments realized that the task was impossible so he just left his hair in a hot mess of a Mohawk. He then walked over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of light-wash jeans and a black shirt that amplified the muscles that he was trying to form. Even if his muscles were degenerating, he still worked out and tried to gain muscle mass. Hey, whatever helped buy him more time. Plus working out helped him release all the stress that built up over time. He let his jeans ride a smidge lower than his boxers so the rim of his navy blue underwear peeked from the gap between shirt and pants.

"Jack?" his mother called from the living room of their one story house.

"Be right there mama!" he yelled as he grabbed his Vans and slipped them on his feet. "Yeah?" he raised his eyebrow as he entered the living room.

"I'm headed out for the day ok? You ready for school? How are you feeling? Do we need to go to the doctor? Anything hurt? Do I need to write you a note saying you need to stay home?" his mother fired questions at him, a look of worry covering her face.

Her son rolled his large sapphires at his overprotective mother. "Mom! Chill out ok? I feel fine. Nothing hurts right now. I don't need a doctor. I'll call you if I'm in any pain whatsoever. I haven't taken my meds yet because I woke up late." Jack walked over to his mother and placed his hands on her sturdy shoulders. "Please go to work. You're going to be fired if you keep showing up late."

He watched the woman who loved him to pieces sigh dramatically. "Ok! Ok! Fine!"

A chuckle slipped through his chapped lips as he walked over and squeezed the panicked woman to his torso. "Bye. Love you."

"I love you too." She whispered while pulling back to look at her son, a silent cry for help deep in her eyes. He could see she was scared of when his time would come.

Jack tried his hardest to give her the happiest smile he could muster and this seemed to ease her fears for a moment as she headed out the door.

After his mother left he walked upstairs and to his medicine cabinet, grabbing a few bottles of pills. He shook his head at the disgust he felt as he swallowed the first pill that was designed to keep his heart beating. He felt like a druggie. Jack swallowed two more white chalky pills that helped with his bone strength and muscle build up – steroids. It sickened him to know how much he depended on medicine these days. He took a few more pills, one blue, one pink, 2 were red, and another was yellow. Each one specifically designed to keep him around a little longer.

This always depressed him a little but he always saw the bright side after a couple minutes. He was still alive. He could still walk this Earth and be with the people he loved. He could still learn as much as he could and do everything he wanted to do before his time came. He was still breathing. He could still walk. His precious life wasn't over.

Life is sacred and shouldn't be wasted.

Jack left the depressing room and quickly went downstairs to go to school. He grabbed his keys and walked out into the cool morning, revved the engine of the Audi A6 and had a faint smile on his face as he went to school.

* * *

"Today we are going to learn about the process of Mitosis," the teacher droned on and on in the bored Biology class. "Mitosis is the processes of…oh! Hello. You must be the new student."

Jack's mind was not in the classroom. His head was back in the hospital. He knew that in class they were discussing about cell division and the fact that if something goes wrong in Mitosis the healthy body cell could form in to a cancer cell. When the word cancer slipped from the teacher's lips Jack's mind went 8 years into the past to when his father was still alive. All of the tubes that were hooked into his father's strong arms, the way the man he knew seemed to shrink and become so frail that he was scared as a little boy to touch his father for fear of hurting him. This brought Jack's mood down considerably from this morning. He was trapped in the memory of saying goodbye and was sure that in a few moments he would lose it and have to be excused from the room.

"_Daddy." The small boy trembled with fear as his small weak hand clutched the cold fingers of the man laying in the hospital bed. "I wa-"_

Suddenly there was a squeak of a chair moving against the linoleum floor beside him. He was pulled out of his daydream and he thankfully looked to see the side to see what had brought him out of his self misery. His crystal eyes glanced to the side and locked with a pair of dark brown.

It was the girl. The girl from the hallway a few days ago.

He watched the petite girl sit down beside him and for the first time look unsure of herself as she glanced at him. He smirked at her and somehow found the courage to stick out his hand to her. "I'm Jack."

She studied his hand for a moment then grasped it firmly in her small hand. "Hi," her musical voice sounded in his ears causing him to smile at the beautiful sound.

He paused, waiting for her to say her name but she didn't. "What's your name." She seemed to be thinking for a moment. "What? You don't know her name?" he teased quietly.

"Jack!" The teacher called. "Pay attention please. Tell me what causes cancer." The teacher asked him slightly irritated.

Jack knew this answer like the back of his hand. "It's a cellular mutation." He stated quickly then turned away from the teacher and tried to keep the pain in his eyes from everyone.

When he turned he faced the new girl who hadn't said her name yet. She seemed to be studying him quietly and she locked eyes with him. She smiled softly at him. "My name is Isabella."

"Isabella." He stated softly to himself. The despair that he felt moments before was washed away as soon as she uttered her name.

There was a sparkle that lit up her almost black eyes when he said her name. Her thin lips curved into a bigger smile as she gazed at him. Her face was full of secrets, secrets that he suddenly needed to know.

Then the bell rang and the girl got up and left before Jack could say any more.


	4. I'll Be Your Cure

Isabella had a small smile painted on her lips as she walked up the wooden stairs carpeted white in the center, dragging her delicate fingers along the banister, and into her room. There was one word that kept playing through her mind over and over, one word that kept the smile in place all day. Even when people had openly stared at the new girl again she continued to have the same small smile on her lips. A complete 180 from this morning when she was irritated and hurt.

One word had changed everything. Maybe it wasn't so much the word, but the way it was said.

3 syllables

1 word

The word: Isabella.

Muttered by her biology partner, Jack.

His voice echoed in her mind all day. She hated her name except for when he said it. She couldn't understand it. Her name just seemed to roll off his tongue so perfectly.

Isabella grabbed a brush and gently pulled it through her cascading midnight hair while picturing the electric blue eyes boring into her chocolate brown. Sighing, she glanced at the clock and saw that she needed to get ready for the fundraiser tonight. Maybe she could bear through it if she thought about the way Jack said her name.

She was being a stupid little girl for feeling giddy just because a cute boy said her name. But the way he said it. God, the way he said it made her heart beat a thousand times faster than ever before. It just seemed to fit when he said it. She'd seen the pain in his eyes moments before she'd let him in on the mystery of her name. It'd vanished when she'd spoken and it made her happy that whatever had hurt him from what he'd said had gone away. She rolled her eyes at how stupid and idiotic she was being. She shouldn't be thinking about this guy she'd met a few days ago and only exchanged names with so strangely.

But she was and she kind of liked it.

* * *

Fidgeting with the lavender silk of the flowing dress that cut low on her chest and traveled down her curvy hips to end right above her knee, Isabella walked slowly, careful not to trip in her silver 4-inch heels, into the art show that was set up to fundraise for a rare disease called Atrophy. She didn't know much about the disease except that it made people weak and eventually killed them. It was sad really, but she didn't know anyone with the disease or really anything about it.

"Hello Darling!" her mother smiled brightly at the slim girl and embraced her into a stiff hug.

"Hey Mom!" the teen put on a cheery face and hugged her mother back.

Everything was completely false of course. It was all for show. Isabella didn't know what real affection from her mother was anymore.

"How was your day at school?" the overly bright woman asked her.

"Fine." She smiled and quickly turned away before she lost her charade and blow their happy mother/daughter act.

Isabella slowly walked around the different avenues and studied the different pieces of art. She liked abstract best. It could be interpreted in so many ways, just like her. There were so many different sides to the young teen and most people were so narrow minded that they only saw one side or one view of her.

"Do you see the bunny in the corner? Many people can't see it but if you look close enough and study it long enough you can see the ears and the bushy tail."

The smile that was still in place grew bigger as Isabella spun around on her heel and stared at the person before her. It felt so good to have a familiar face in the crowd of strangers.

The young woman standing in front of her was clad in s sparkling silver dress that hung on left shoulder loosely and hung further on the right leg than the left. It fell down her body and accented her curves. The platinum straight blonde hair flowed down her back, the dark roots shoots at the top of her hair. Her lips were painted in a bright red and her eyes had a misty gray eye shadow lightly dusted on the lids. Her brown eyes trained on the abstract painting then glanced at her. "You don't see it Bella?"

"Oh. I see it Manni." The brunette said and looked up into the right corner where there was a hidden rabbit. "It's cute."

"Mmmhmm. So are you bored yet?" the taller of the two asked while fidgeting with the black bracelet she wore on her right arm.

"No. Not really." Bella shrugged and walked to the next painting that held bright colors and some lines running through the middle. "Though I don't really get this whole fundraiser thing."

"Oh, it's for this like rare disease thing that like no one has. There's only a few people in the world that have it." The blonde shrugged her boney shoulders, her skin radiating in the silver dress, and strutted in her expensive stilettos over to the punch table. "I spiked it," she boasted while taking a swig.

"I'll have some of that." the petite Latina grabbed a cup full of punch and gulped it down, the warmth of alcohol entering her veins consuming her. "Yummy."

"Thought you'd like it." Smiling, the blonde took another sip. "So I saw you talking to Jack today in class." An evil smirk now played on her lips.

A tiny blush crept onto the olive complexion of Bella's cheeks. "Oh. Um….he was just introducing himself. He's my lab partner."

"A very cute lab partner who keeps to himself and almost never talks to anyone."

"That makes two of us." The smaller teen mumbled while glancing off onto the stage set up in the corner.

They were announcing how much money they'd collected tonight by selling the artwork. A lady with redish-brown hair and dull blue eyes walked up onto the stage. There were tears in her eyes and she smiled out into the crowd and thanked everyone for coming. Wiping the droplets of water from her cheeks she nodded and grabbed the box of money that was raised and then disappeared into the crowd.

"Who's that?" Bella asked while walking towards the stage. There was something about the woman that she seemed oddly drawn to.

"Oh. Sorry. I wasn't paying attention."

Bella looked over at her friend who was now on her fourth coup of punch. Rolling her eyes the thin teen walked over to the stranger of a mother and started to exit with the crowd. As she exited, she picked up her clutch and began to be pushed by the crowd of hurried people. In the pushing and pulling the uncoordinated young woman tripped in her heels and her shoulder hit the wall. Wincing in pain she slowly pushed off the white wall and looked around to find her mother.

Suddenly her coffee orbs connected with sparkling sapphires.

A firm hand reached out and grabbed her, manicured fingernails digging into the soft skin of her arm, and yanked her in the other direction. The eye contact was lost and Isabella found herself disoriented and confused.

What was he doing here?

* * *

The smell of sweat from running bodies around the old, moldy gym was a smell that Jack Reece loved. Gross, yes. But it reminded him that he was in a place that he couldn't be stopped. Nothing could faze him out on the court. His adrenaline could pump in a good way and he could run around and let off some steam. Did he mention he was the best one on the team?

It was free period and the sore teenage was letting lose. Last night he'd woken up with a splitting headache and couldn't go back to sleep. The headache had only amplified from the schoolwork he was given today. His mother didn't know of course and he wasn't going to tell her. Earlier, it felt like he was going to faint in the hall from the pain but he ignored the swaying feeling. He couldn't faint in school because then people would know something was wrong with him. He thanked the Lord when free period came. Holding the rough orange ball in his hands made him feel better, in control. His headache was still very present so he was trying to focus on just making free throws. It wasn't working too well today though. The pain was making him miss almost every shot.

"Whoa! What's up with you today man?" Jack glanced and his bushy haired friend.

"Nothing. I just have a headache and cant' focus today I guess." Jack shrugged and shot another ball into the hoop, thankfully making it this time.

"Well feel better before our game in a couple weeks."

"Of course." Trying to smile the basketball star shot another free-throw and watched as the ball banked and then hit the rim as it rolled off the basket and onto the floor. "Dammit!"

Chuckling, Mark patted his friend on the back. "It's ok dude. You're just having an off day." He went to pick up the ball. "So…you talk to that new girl yet?"

Jack couldn't stop the smile from creeping onto his chapped lips. His bright azure eyes lit up. "Actually I have. She's my biology partner now."

A cocky grin spread over Mark's face. "I told you she'd be your future lover!"

Jack blushed slightly and rolled his eyes. "We aren't 'lovers'" he used air quotes to emphasize the stupid word "and the only word's we've exchanged was 'hi' and 'my name is'."

"So…what's you future lover's name?" the chocolate skinned boy's face showed the amusement of a 5 year old with his hand caught in a cookie jar.

"She is NOT my future lover!" This was starting to irritate the senior to no end. He didn't know why it made him so mad that she was being called his lover. Maybe it was because he secretly, deep down, wanted her to be. He wanted to hold her and be with her but he wouldn't allow himself that. He couldn't. He wouldn't do that to her because that meant that when he died she would be heartbroken and such a special girl as Isabella shouldn't have her heart broken. It wasn't right. She deserved better, a chance at a normal relationship. It shouldn't be that hard for her. All of the male population at the high school was drooling over her anyway.

"Ok, Ok! Chill man!" Mark held up his hands defensively. "I was just messing with you."

Sighing the chestnut haired boy turned towards the locker room to change. "I have to head to Bio. Sorry for snapping."

"It's fine dude. Have fun in Biology." Another angry look from Jack made him roll his eyes before patting him on the back. "Don't hide it man. You need a girl."

Jack walked off towards the locker rooms and glanced around to see if there were any guys in sight. Then he reached into his gym bag and grabbed a bottle of pills. It was to treat his killer headache. He'd already taken 2 but they weren't helping. He threw back 2 more and swallowed loudly. He changed from his crimson jersey back into black skinny jeans and a long sleeved button down dark navy blue dress shirt which he rolled the sleeves up to his elbows. After putting on his signature Vans he rested his butt on the cool metal bench and leaned against the metal lockers, resting his head on the scarlet colored door of the storage space. He hid his crystal eyes behind his lids and sighed deeply. If only the headache would go away. He tried to think of anything else but the feel of his pounding head and the dizziness that came with it.

One thing came to mind and he cursed himself for thinking about it. Isabella.

His curse. He couldn't deny that he thought she was beautiful. There was such a mystery about her. She hid from the world just like he did. He knew that it wasn't for the same reason but there was something that she held back. He could see it in her eyes. Those gorgeous cappuccino eyes that he could get lost in. He couldn't stop thinking about her. The way her hair fell down her back in a waterfall of silky ebony and he so desperately wanted to run his fingers through. He had to restrain himself at all costs. He was not allowed to touch her at all or even spending much time with her. He couldn't get attached to her. And even worse, having her get attached to him. That would be complete disaster. He didn't know how much longer he had and he didn't want to hurt her.

"Isabella." He whispered her name and shut his eyes painfully once more. This time not because his head hurt, but because her name was a curse. A curse that rolled off his tongue so easily and felt so right to say.

* * *

Sliding into his seat he glanced to the side to see the forbidden girl sitting beside him. She looked at him and a smile that was faint worthy slid onto her lips. How could he be so weak towards her? It wasn't right! He was usually so strong with his emotions but she had a way of sucking all the will power out of him. Against his will he returned her smile with a crooked grin.

"Hi." She mumbled softly, her eyes glowing.

"Hello." He tried to occupy his eyes and hands while pulling out his binder and grabbing a pencil to steady his shaking hand. They were about to take notes.

He felt her eyes on him and reluctantly turned back to her. She had questions running through those gorgeous brown eyes of hers but he couldn't tell what they were. "Why were you at the Atrophy fundraiser last night?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked and turned away from her to look at the teacher who was now talking about different cancers.

"I saw you last night." She mumbled quietly.

"That's creepy!" he joked then became serious. He had to word this right. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I was at home yesterday."

"But I saw you last night at the Atrophy thing." She hissed while scribbling down the notes in her notebook.

Writing down what was on the board and keeping his eyes trained on the whiteboard he formulated his answer carefully again. "I wasn't there. I don't know what you're talking about."

"But I-"

"Isabella." She glanced up from the board and was met by the shocking waves of his eyes. "Please. I wasn't there." He pleaded with her to believe him or at least just shrug it off. He didn't want her asking questions. He didn't like it.

After staring into his eyes for a while and seeming to get disoriented she looked away and back to the board. Sighing she resigned, though he knew she wouldn't forget. "Fine." Yes, Isabella would remember.

"Thank you." He whispered.

"Class, we are going to do a project in pairs. The pairs are your lab partners and I want you to pick a disease or cancer and research it. The project is due in a month."

Isabella turned back to the shaggy haired teen beside her. Jack tried not to groan. He wanted to spend time with her but he couldn't spend more time than necessary. "Guess we're partners." She said meekly and fidgeted with her fingers.

"Guess so." He said and looked down. This was going to be interesting. Especially if he was not feeling well. His head still hurt but the pain was dulling slightly.

"Um…can I come over to your house this weekend and work on it?" she asked shyly and looked up into his eyes.

"I guess." He sighed, resigned, and pushed away from his desk because class would be over soon. "What cancer do you want." He prayed she wouldn't say the answer she knew would come out of her mouth.

"Atrophy." She stated boldly.

Closing his eyes in defeat and pain he almost growled. "Must we?"

"Yes. What is your problem with this disease?!"

"I don't have a problem with it Isabella." He lied and gathered his stuff.

"Then why don't you want to do it?" She asked and cocked her eyebrow.

She was too stubborn for his own good and he was too ill-tempered today. "You know what? Whatever! We'll do it." He seethed and turned on his heel.

Suddenly shock waves ran through his body and he almost fell from the weird feeling. He glanced down to his bicep to see her slender wrapped around it. "Did I do something wrong?" she asked, a weakness in her eyes.

He hated seeing her upset. It affected him in ways it shouldn't have and he cursed himself silently for being such a softy. "No. You didn't do anything wrong. I just don't feel well today. I have a hea-" His eyes grew to the size of moons. The headache was gone. Completely gone.

"Headache?" she finished for him after he suddenly stopped mid-word.

"Um…yeah." He was still confused. It hurt so bad moments ago but when she touched him it was like his pain went away. "I'll see you Saturday." He wrote down his number and handed it to her.

"Thanks." She let go of his bicep and the dulled pain slowly began to throb again but it wasn't as bad as before. It was bearable. "I'll see you Jack." She smiled and waved as she walked away.

"Bye Isabella." He murmered to himself and watched her walk away. His skin burned where she touched him and he liked it.

The pain in his head returned and he touched his temple. How could one touch make his pain go away? And why did it have to be her that made it all stop? He had to stay away from her.

Get the project over with then drift away from her. Yeah. That's what he'd do. He couldn't hurt her with his disease. And she COULD NOT find out that he had Atrophy.


	5. Liar, Liar

**Sorry for the wait. Actually, I'm not sorry. No one has been reading my stories and I'm putting all of my heart into these characters. Please read this story. It's prob the best story I've ever written.**

**I'm not sure if I like this chapter though. I feel it loses the essance of the characters and the heart-wrenching plot. Idk. I kinda like the release from all the depression but that's not really the characters I imagined. Idk.**

**Tell me what you think please.**

* * *

Jack stared out of his window in his room and into the rain that was pounding the roof above his head. He had woken up a few moments before and was too lazy to get up and get ready yet. He knew Isabella would be showing up in an hour and a half and half of him was dreading it and the other half was over the moon. He was warring with himself on which side to take. Rubbing his eyes slowly he laid back down on the mattress and let the comfy bed consume his tired muscles. He reached over to the side of the bed and drank some water. He could still taste blood in his mouth.

_Jack stood up from the dinner table with a sick feeling. His strong legs carried him into the bathroom just in time for his stomach to expel all of it's materials into the white bowl of the toilet. He pressed his palms to the seat rims and winced in pain as he felt another round of acid coming up his throat. Opening his eyes he gasped at the sight. There was red liquid oozing from his mouth. He could now taste the warm gooey liquid in his mouth and this caused his gag reflex to make him throw up again._

"_Hunny are you-" He looked up to see his mother's terrified eyes. "I'll go call the doctor." She rushed out of the small bathroom and he could here her frantically talking to his doctor, who was always on call for him, on the other line._

"_Mommy!" The puking teen tried to stop his nausea. He knew that this much blood loss was bad. Flushing the toilet and washing his mouth off he tried to keep himself from gagging._

_His mom rushed in to see him again. "He's on his way. Oh Jack." She almost sobbed but held it back because she was trying to be brave for her son._

_He succumbed to her embrace and leaned down to rest his forehead on his mother's shoulder. There he cried. He only did this on occasion but this was an occasion that called for it. He could deal with pain and being sore but sometimes it hit him like a ton of bricks how much his body was actually failing him and it scared him to no end. Holding tight to his mother the usually strong boy sobbed while his mother rubbed his back soothingly._

"_Shhh. Baby it'll be alright. This will pass. The doctor will be here soon to see what's wrong." Her comforting words helped but he knew she didn't really believe things would be alright. She wasn't stupid._

"_I don't want to be sick anymore." He mumbled against her shirt and sniffed, trying to stop the rivers of tears running down his cheeks._

"_I know you don't sweetie. Let's not think about that anymore." Pulling away she looked into her son's glossy eyes, the color dulled and his eyes bloodshot. "I love you. Remember that."_

_Jack tried to smile back but it didn't work so he gave up. "I love you."_

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts he slowly got up and still felt dizzy from the loss of blood earlier that day. He looked around his room for a moment as the sleep finally left his visage and he walked over to his dresser that held his clothes. Currently he was just in midnight boxers and he didn't think that was very acceptable to wear when doing a project. He rummaged through his messy drawers until finding his red gym shorts and a gray muscle shirt. He was too lazy to actually try to look good since it was a Saturday. And he didn't want to give Isabella the impression that he wanted her and was trying to impress her. He was trying to not like her or have her like him. Though he would be nice, he didn't want to lead her on.

He slid on some Vans and flipped the shag of brown hair out of his eyes before heading down the hall to see his mother getting ready for work.

"How are you feeling today honey?" she asked, placing her hand on his cheek.

"A little soar and woozy from the blood loss but its ok. The doctor said I'd be fine today." He grabbed an apple and bit into it. Mmm. Crisp!

Her mother's worried eyes roamed his face then she sighed and turned back to her briefcase. "Don't hesitate to call. What are you doing today?"

He braced for his mother's reaction. "Um…I have a project to do today. It's a group project so I said my partner can come over. I hope that's ok."

"Of course it is Jack. Do I know him?" she asked while gathering her things to leave the house for another day of work.

"She, actually. Her name is Isabella." Ugh! Why did it feel so good to say her name out loud? "And she's new to school."

As expected his mother's eyes lit up like fireworks illuminating the sky on 4th of July. A smile spread across so quick that if you blinked you'd miss it. Her giddy expression made him groan. "A girl?"

"Yes mother." His tone exasperated. "She's a girl. And there's nothing that is going to happen between us."

"Why not?" Lucille pouted her lower lip out.

Jack couldn't help but laugh at his mother's expression but the explanation sobered him up quickly. "Because Mom, I don't want her to get attached." His eyes said the rest because he couldn't get the final words across. _Because I'm going to die._

"Oh Jack!" a deep sigh slipping through her lips. "you can't let that stop you from following your heart."

"Yes. I can. I don't want to hurt her. She's too perfect for me to hurt her." His mother beamed again. "Why can't you understand this? I will not allow anything to happen between us."

Lucille shook her head and then turned to start leaving. "Sometimes sweetie, you can't chose how your heart reacts."

Growling under her breath he walked to the door to open it for his mother. "No. Nothing is going to-". Stopping mid-sentence he stared at the petite girl in front of him.

"Jack? Were you going to say something?" His mother asked then peaked over his shoulder. "Oh. Hello. You must be Isabella." Jack could tell by her inflection that she was enjoying this way too much.

He couldn't look away from her. She was beautiful. No. He couldn't say that…she was beautiful…but he wouldn't allow himself to be smitten. "Yes ma'am. I am. Nice to meet you Mrs. Reece."

"You too sweetie." A huge smile was plastered on his mother's face. "Jack? Are you not going to let this beautiful lady in?"

Slowly the dumbfounded teen came out of his trance and glared at his mother. "Of course I am mother! Aren't you going to be late for work?" he sneered.

"Yes, yes I am. I'm terribly sorry. I'll see you later Isabella. Bye Jack." Walking out of the house Lucille turned and winked at Jack, making him send daggers to her.

* * *

Jack was laying down on his bed while tossing his basketball up and down in his rough fingers. Isabella had been over for an hour now and they were working on the project. The only problem; Jack wasn't saying much because he didn't want to give away his extensive knowledge about the disease. She might figure out he had Atrophy if he did.

He looked over to see her raven hair in a high ponytail swishing from left to right since she just turned her head back to look at him. "Are you going to help me or not?" He knew she was irritated but he couldn't help it.

"I am helping." he sat up and walked over to look at official website for Atrophy research. He'd seen this website so many times he'd memorized every little detail of every word written down on the page she was looking at.

"No. You're being lazy and making me do all the work." She swiveled the chair she was currently sitting in to look at him, propping her arm up on the brown computer desk he had at the foot of his bed.

Shrugging, he took the mouse from under her fingertips, ignoring the electricity ignited from the touch, and clicked on the 'research and development' tab. "What do we know already?"

An irritated sigh left her glossed lips as she looked down onto the notebook she had in front of her. "Atrophy is the slow wear down of muscles. It is very rare. How rare, I don't know. I've never seen anyone with it. They'd probably be like in a wheelchair or like disable mentally or something."

Jack's eyes narrowed. He took a deep breath to calm the rising anger at that statement. He was not physically or mentally handicapped. "It's .2% of the country with the disease."

"Where do you see that?" she asked, looking at the computer screen intently.

"Oh. I'd read it somewhere last night. I did a bit of research before you came over." He lied through his teeth and gave her a false smile.

"Ok. Sweet." Her manicured fingers quickly scribbled the information down then dropped the pen and turned around to him once more. "Can I ask you something?"

Jack's eyes enlarged slightly but he tried to remain calm. "Um…depends. What is it?"

"Your mom, she was at that Atrophy Fundraiser. And don't try to tell me she wasn't." her eyebrows were furrowed slightly and gave him a serious look.

He couldn't help but think how cute she looked sitting there in her tight light-washed skinny jeans and a loose white t-shirt that hung off one shoulder with her hair up in a high ponytail. Her lips had a pink gloss on it and for a moment he wondered what flavor the gloss was, but then banished the thought from his mind. The pout on her face was quite adorable. Wait. No. He can't think she's adorable.

He had to make a choice. Lie, or tell the truth. "Yeah. She was there."

"But you still claim you weren't? I SAW you Jack. I saw you with my own two eyes! Do you not remember that?"

He remembered perfectly but he just didn't want her fitting the pieces together. He remembered watching her fall down and hit the wall. He remembered wanting to help her up but knowing he couldn't reveal himself to her. He magnetic force that their stare had caused. He remembered everything about her. The fake smile she put on for her mother, the blush that covered her cheeks when Manni was talking to her, her helpless look in the crowd.

"I wasn't there. You must have thought someone else was me." He took the mouse once more and scrolled through the different sections effortlessly. He knew where to go to get the information they needed.

"I guess." She didn't sound like she believed the lie, more like brushing off the subject and waiting to bring it back up later. "Can I ask you something else?"

His crystal eyes moved to hers, tightening in irritation but eventually he nodded. "What else do you want to know?" he asked while clicking on an icon to pull up another page.

"Why don't you want to do this project with me?" a new tone arriving in her musical voice which caught Jack off-guard.

"I just don't like the topic of diseases. It's kind of depressing." He answered and looked at her to see her eyes had softened and were studying his face.

"Are you sure it's not because…of me?" she asked, playing with her fingers and avoiding his eyes now.

"No. Of course not. Though I don't think we should spend too much time together." He added the last part with a sadder tone than before.

"Why not?" Uh oh. She sounded hurt and one look at her face, which had gone emotionless, confirmed his fears.

Though it was true he didn't want to hurt her, there was something about her that made him not want her to feel any pain at all. "I mean, I'm just kind of complicated and I don't want you to get all caught up in that."

"What…what do you mean by that?" she asked, standing up from the spinning chair and walking over to him.

"Nothing." She was probing and he knew it. He knew she knew there was something he was keeping from her. "How about we drop this subject and get some ice cream from the freezer in the kitchen?"

He watched as the petite girl in front of him debated his offer. He could see the need in her eyes to know what was going on but she also seemed to be a sweets lover. "Add extra chocolate syrup on top and we have a deal."

Smiling, Jack held out his hand and she grabbed it firmly in a handshake. Her skin burned against his but he adored the feeling. The ache in his body from earlier was completely gone the moment she touched him. The pain had dulled the moment she walked through the door. Their eyes met for a moment before Jack pulled away from her and headed out of the door towards the kitchen.

* * *

There was something off about him. Something that Isabella was dying to know. She had always been the curious one. The two were currently sitting on the couch watching some old cartoons and eating ice cream. As promised she had extra syrup added to he vanilla scoops. A truce was a truce and she's promised not to bring up their previous conversation, well not today at least.

She liked his house. It was plainly decorated but it was very homely. It was a single story brick house with blue shutters and all of the floors other than the bathroom and kitchen were carpeted. She liked it much better than her house. Her house wasn't very cozy and it wasn't filled with love like this one seemed to be.

Curling her legs under her butt she turned her head towards the male sitting beside her. He was completely zoned out on the cartoon and he looked like a little child. There was always something in his expression, something that he didn't want the world to see, and it was gone now. Isabella watched as he flipped his chestnut shag out of his eyes and then glance at her. He raised his eyebrow at her and she quickly looked away. Even in comfy shorts and a muscle shirt he looked good. She couldn't deny that. And she also couldn't deny that she was smitten with Jack Reece. There was just something about him, a force that seemed to keep her sitting on the couch with him.

He irritated her to no end with his lack of effort on the project and lack of information to her questions but he was actually really sweet. He seemed to really care for his mom and he was a gentleman.

Biting her lip, Isabella looked up at him again. "I think I should be headed out."

Jack glanced at the clock and sighed. "Yeah. I guess you should. It's starting to get late. I don't want your mom worried about you."

She couldn't stop the cynical laugh the left her lips as she covered her lips with her small hand quickly, her eyes the size of moons. "Sorry."

He stared at her for a moment with a confused look as he searched his face. She was good at keeping a straight face and had recovered to a smooth visage. "I'll see you at school Monday."

"Um…yeah ok." The two walked to the door and he opened the red wooden door for her. "Night Jack."

A small smile crept onto his lips. "Night Isabella."

She looked up into his beautiful blue eyes and her heart skipped a beat. Everything seemed to fit around him. She didn't think of her disastrous childhood or her mother that was never home, or her teenage troubles of fitting in to a new school in her senior year. Everything was swept from her mind except him and whatever they were doing.

She couldn't stop herself as she crept her small arms around his built waist. Her skin tingling at the sparks that generated from the contact between his skin and hers. Isabella cursed herself silently when he didn't return the hug then smiled as she felt his arms wrap around her strongly and squeeze her to his chest. She leaned into his touch and hugged him tightly. And did she mention that he smelled good in that Hollister cologne?

She started the hug and Jack was the one to end it. He let his hands drop so she did the same and took a step back. "Sorry." She whispered, blushing.

"No. It's ok." He smiled and leaned against the open door. "I'll be seeing you."

"Yeah." And with that Isabella turned around and walked to her car waiting in the dark of the night.

Smitten? Yes.

It was like she was a different person around him. She didn't crave cigarettes or alcohol. Now that she knew what his hugs felt like, she really wanted another one. Driving into the darkness and back to her depressing home, Isabella smirked and accelerated.


End file.
